December has arrived; the last month of a long and tumultuous year for all. How perfect and appropo that this year should end with winter. It couldn’t come soon enough! I hope these reminders will help you welcome winter and use this sacred time wisely.

As I write this message to you, I’m prepping for a much anticipated trip to New York City to spend Thanksgiving with my daughters and their dad. The weather for travel is predicted to be quite hectic, with gusty winds expected to create delays and flight cancelations.

Anais Nin is one of my favorite poets. Her words are real , poignant and thought-provoking. When I recently rediscovered this one, I heard it with new ears. My perspective, like yours I imagine, has changed a great deal lately, especially in the wake of the pandemic. There is a fundamental shift in the way we are feeling and we will and will no longer tolerate.

What do you do when your mind is so completely exhausted it feels as if you have brain freeze? No real thoughts.

You are unable to string words together to complete a sentence kind of exhausted?

Last week I came to you with insights on how to turn burnout into acceleration energy so that you can get to new heights in your career and life. This is the area where I work magic.

For more than 20 years now, I’ve been helping working women just like you master all the challenges they face and use them as the launch pad for a better life. What this means for you is that I can help you take the burnout you’re experiencing and use it to fuel more career growth - a promotion, a raise, or other big life improvement.

There is no way to escape the illusion that everyone else is smarter, more beautiful, unaffected by the sun or aging, richer, happier, or rocking their career more than you. The proof is after all all around you. Just take a look at anyone’s social pages.

Many years ago, my sister and I made a pact after moving away from our home town.
We agreed to have no expectations of anyone when we came back for visits.
It was a simple act that helped ease the pain of disappointment when I’d travel thousands of miles across the country, only to find that many folks had their own plans and lives going on; it wasn’t always convenient to carve out the gaps of quality time together that I had hoped for.

There is unquestionably more chaos and disruption in our world right now. This constant state of intensity is causing many to be more restless, irritable, and exhausted than ever before.

Many of my clients ask for support in finding ways to keep their energy levels up when their go-to answers of extra sleep, exercise, and diet don’t seem to do the trick.

I’m a huge fan of Mark Nepo’s daily devotional called, “The Book of Awakening’. It’s standard reading within my ritual.

One entry titled “Repetition Is Not Failure” focuses on the ways in which life provides us with some of our most important lessons.

I’m am Inquirer.
I ask a lot of questions.
I ask questions of family members, friends, clients, and especially myself.

Sir Ken Robinson, who left us last year, did a wonderful Ted Talk entitled, “Do Schools Kill Creativity”. I watched it again this week and was reminded of the powerful message that he shared that is equally important for our kids as it is for adults.

My work often involves helping women face their fears so that they can get to the next level of their careers. In each and every case, I have found that Imposter Syndrome tends to be the culprit behind the curtain.

As a mother of young adult daughters, I have often found myself wrestling with the desire to do more or give more to my girls in an an effort to help ensure their success and happiness. I had an unhealthy attachment to their having breakthrough results. Is this something you also struggle with when it comes to serving people you care about or your work teams?

As a young girl, I was fascinated by Greek mythology. One of my favorite stories was of Medusa and the power she had to turn men to stone when they were tempted to turn and glance back. What does this represent for us?

Coming off of Friday the 13th, I gave myself the challenge of investigating all the adages that I have inherited that don’t hold true for me. This exercise felt important and timely, as the more personal growth I do, the more I become aware of what isn’t mine — what I’ve inherited without giving it much thought. The impact of a single phrase can be powerful.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve been interviewing female executives who have risen through the ranks to contribute in C-suite roles and on boards at many global corporations. My goal was to gain key insights on how they became successful and what advice they can lend to other women eager to create a postive impact in their own organizations.

These are complicated and rapidly changing times. I’ve been thinking a lot about my foundational, non-negotiable needs in this stage of evolution. One thing that I keep coming back to is space.

I’ve been pondering a lot lately of how the world would change if we were more open to seeing the similarities in others, the deep longing for love, truth, respect, being seen and heard authentically. Instead of feeling isolated and alone in our emotions, what would transform in us were we to unite through them?

Recently I learned about a mind-altering, scientific model that changed my perspective on how easy it might be to turn the tide on our separation. Having experienced first-hand the mind’s ability to comply with whatever suggestions provided that serve the ego, this simple approach is worth testing.